Hand Stitching: Almost Finished
After establishing the background colors with large shapes, I worked smaller ones on top. Lots of partial buttonhole wheels. Next, I started adding more texture and color with bullion knots ( the ones that look like caterpillars.) I decided they were too much work, so resorted to that old stand by, French knots.
Click on an image for a larger view.
At this point, I was pretty happy with the BACKGROUND stitching, but I thought the French knots were too high contrast in places. I hoped I could integrate everything better with the beading.
Here’s a detail shot of my results. I think I succeeded in integrating the colors pretty well. (Who am I kidding? I was actually delighted with the results!)
As you can see from the photo above, the stitching distorted the fabric (see the curvy border) so I blocked it back into shape.
I’ll show you the finished results in the next blog.
Ellen Lindner
P.S. There’s a tutorial on blocking on my website. See it here. (It shows quilts, but the process is exactly the same for handwork.)
